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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/14/2004 SC minutes Director Water/Sewer Superintendent Glen R. AndlerRoderick T. O’Donovan Deputy Director Streets/Buildings Superintendent Sean P. DorseyPaul C. Bures Village Engineer Forestry/Grounds Superintendent Jeffrey A. WulbeckerSandra M. Clark Solid Waste Coordinator Vehicle/Equipment Superintendent M. Lisa AngellJames E. Guenther Mount Prospect Public Works Department 1700 W. Central Road, Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056-2229 Phone 847/870-5640 Fax 847/253-9377 TDD 847/392-1235 MINUTES OF THE MOUNT PROSPECT SAFETY COMMISSION CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of the Mount Prospect Safety Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 14, 2004. ROLL CALL Present upon roll call: Chuck Bencic Chairman John Keane Vice Chairman Susan Arndt Commissioner Kevin Grouwinkel Commissioner Mark Miller Commissioner Carol Tortorello Commissioner Ken Lee Police Department Buz Livingston Fire Department Jeff Wulbecker Public Works Matt Lawrie Public Works/Engineering Division Absent: None Others in Attendance: See attached list. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Keane, seconded by Commissioner Tortorello, moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Safety Commission held on May 10, 2004. The minutes were approved by a vote of 9-0. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD No citizens came forth to discuss any topics that were not on the current agenda. OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS A) TRAFFIC STUDY ALONG THE 600 & 700 BLOCKS OF N. PINE STREET 1) Background Information Ken Bowman, 613 N. Pine Street, submitted a petition with 43 signatures from those residents who live along the 600 and 700 blocks of N. Pine Street. The residents are concerned with the amount of cut through traffic and speeding from vehicles avoiding the traffic signal at Kensington Road and Elmhurst Road. The petition requests signage to restrict right turns from eastbound Kensington onto N. Pine Street. 2) Staff Study Kensington Road is a two-lane asphalt road under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Its intersection with Elmhurst Road and Rand Road creates one of the most congested areas in Mount Prospect. Kensington Road is the minor street of the three (approximately 7000 vehicles per day) and, therefore, gets the least priority when it comes green time. A typical cycle length is 3 minutes 50 seconds with eastbound Kensington Road receiving 35 seconds of green. At its intersection with Elmhurst Road, Kensington Road has two eastbound lanes. There is a shared left and thru, and a shared right and thru. The two lanes narrow to one 150’ west of the intersection. The combination of the long cycle length and constricted lane configuration often leads to back-ups during peak travel times. As a result, some eastbound motorists on Kensington Road who want to turn right onto southbound Elmhurst Road instead choose to use the neighborhood streets to avoid the traffic signal. The first street west of Elmhurst Road is Wille Street. Signs are posted at its intersection with Kensington Road that prohibit right and left turns onto southbound Wille Street. Staff was not able to learn the history of these signs other than they were installed before 1980. The next street west is Pine Street. There are currently no turn restrictions at its intersection with Kensington Road. Also, the next five intersecting streets further west also have no turn restrictions at Kensington Road. Traffic volume and speed data were gathered over a five-day period in May 2004 along four streets: Wille Street, Pine Street, Russel Street and Elmhurst Avenue. The highest daily traffic occurred on Elmhurst Avenue according to the results (~1100 vehicles) with Pine Street close behind (~1000 vehicles). However, based on our observations and the fact there were some minor glitches with the traffic counter on Pine Street, Staff believes Pine Street to have a slightly higher volume than recorded and would recommend gathering additional volume data once school resumes in the fall. Russel Street and Wille Street experienced approximately 600 and 400 vehicles per day, respectively. As part of our traffic volume collection, Staff also performed a manual count during peak times of the day by observing the turning movement of vehicles on Pine Street at its intersection with Kensington Road and Highland Street. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of the amount of traffic using Pine Street to avoid the traffic signal. Counts were taken from 7:00-8:00am (morning rush), 2:30-3:30pm (high school dismissal) and 5:00-6:00pm (evening rush). One observer noted whether the vehicle was traveling eastbound or westbound when it turned onto southbound Pine Street and the other observer noted the direction the vehicle chose when it reached the Highland Street and Pine Street intersection. Staff assumed the typical turning movement for a motorist avoiding the traffic signal at Kensington Road and Elmhurst Road was an eastbound vehicle turning right on Pine Street and then left (eastbound) onto Highland Street to Elmhurst Road. However, the assumption was made that 10% of the motorists making this series of turns actually turned onto northbound Wille Street before reaching Elmhurst Road. Since signs prohibit right turns from Kensington Road onto Wille Street, some residents of Wille Street choose to use Pine Street. The other assumption made is that motorists making the other combination of turning movements had reason to be using Pine Street other than avoiding the traffic signal. Below is a table showing the percentage of motorists using Pine Street as a cut through to avoid the traffic signal during peak hours of the day. total number number of cut May 12, 2004 of vehicles through vehicles % 7:00-8:00am 92 45 49 2:30-3:30pm 98 47 48 5:00-6:00pm 93 30 32 Traffic speed was also gathered over a 5-day period in May 2004 along the four parallel streets west of Elmhurst Road. The 600 and 700 blocks have no intersecting streets. It is approximately 1300’ (1/4 mile) between Kensington Road and Highland Street. A traffic counter was placed half way between on th each of the four streets. Overall, average speeds ranged from 25-30mph and the 85 percentile speeds ranged from 33-36mph. On each of the streets, 2-3% of the vehicles were traveling over 40mph. With the higher percentage of cut through vehicles than compared to other local streets, speeds tend to be higher as are evident on these streets. Speed enforcement by the Police Department would have a positive influence on the small percentage of motorists driving well in excess of the posted speed limit of 25mph. Finally, Staff requested crash reports from the Police Department for accidents that have occurred over the past five years along Pine Street between Kensington Road and Highland Street. We received four reports. The first accident occurred January 2001. A vehicle backing out of the driveway at 614 N. Pine Street struck a southbound vehicle. The southbound motorist lived on the 400 block of N. Pine Street. The second accident occurred shortly after the previous accident. A school bus attempting to drive by the accident scene, struck one of the vehicles involved in the previous accident. The third accident occurred October 2002 but it happened on Kensington Road. The fourth accident occurred February 2004. This accident prompted Mr. Bowman to contact the Village about the amount of traffic on Pine Street. A Prospect High School student swerved to avoid a parked vehicle and then struck another parked vehicle on the opposite side of the street in front of Mr. Bowman’s house. 3) Evaluation Based on Staff’s traffic study, it is evident that eastbound motorists are using Pine Street as a cut through to avoid the traffic signal at Kensington Road and Elmhurst Road. From our observations, however, other streets such as Russel Street and Elmhurst Avenue are also experiencing cut through traffic, particularly during peak travel times. The petition requests that right turns onto Pine Street at Kensington Road be restricted to reduce the traffic volume. Should this be approved, Staff believes traffic volume on the adjacent streets further west will only increase. These streets will be negatively affected and turn restrictions will have to be considered on these streets as well. Adding turn restrictions to every local street will restrict access to residents who live in the neighborhood and further cause delay along Kensington Road. For these reasons, Staff does not believe adding turn restrictions is the solution at this time. Other measures that would directly affect Pine Street such as installing speed humps are not believed to be the solution at this time either. While speed humps and other traffic calming measures can affect traffic volume and speed, they can also shift the problem to adjacent streets and have a negative affect on those who reside along the street as they must negotiate these measures every day. Further, Staff does not believe removing the turn restrictions at Wille Street and Kensington Road is the solution either. The signs have been in place for at least 25 years and removing them will most likely prompt a negative response from the residents along Wille Street. In addition, Staff believes cut through traffic will still be experienced on Pine Street even with allowing turns onto Wille Street. All of the considerations mentioned thus far have a direct affect on the local streets. Staff believes the more appropriate solution is to look for ways to reduce the delay along Kensington Road and, therefore, give less incentive for motorists to cut through the neighborhood. One recommendation is to work with IDOT to see if there is an opportunity to modify the traffic signal timing at Kensington Road and Elmhurst Road. Adding green time to eastbound traffic without increasing the overall cycle length will allow more vehicles to clear the intersection while not increasing the delay during the red phase. IDOT will have to determine what affect this may have on Elmhurst Road and Rand Road traffic before agreeing to any changes. The other recommendation is to widen the roadway along Kensington Road. Increasing the length of the two eastbound lanes and even providing an exclusive right turn lane would allow more vehicles to clear the intersection per cycle and reduce the delay. Not too long ago, IDOT performed an in-depth study of the Rand/Elmhurst/Kensington intersection in order to develop a plan to relieve congestion. Property acquisition, ring roads and other significant changes were considered in the study. It is our understanding IDOT has ceased pursuing this plan at this time. However, Staff is hopeful there is an opportunity to make improvements to Kensington Road to address the cut through concern once Staff initiates discussion with IDOT. 4) Recommendation Based on Engineering Staff’s analysis of the issue, the Village Traffic Engineer recommends: contacting IDOT and requesting they modify the traffic signal timing to reduce the delay ?? along eastbound Kensington Road at Elmhurst Road contacting IDOT and requesting they make road improvements to Kensington Road to ?? reduce the delay obtain traffic volume and speed data on Pine Street once school resumes in the fall ?? periodic speed enforcement by the Police Department during peak travel times ?? bring the issue back to the Safety Commission for further discussion once IDOT has reviewed ?? the issue 5) Discussion Chairman Bencic opened up the discussion to the audience. Mr. Ken Bowman, 613 N. Pine Street, shared the story of an accident that occurred along the street in February 2004. He is concerned about the traffic volume and speed along the street and would like something done about it. He prefers a turn restriction off of Kensington Road and would be open to time specific restrictions. He is also in favor of speed humps to slow down traffic. Mike Koldras, 610 N. Pine Street, is also concerned about the speed along the street. He would like to see Police enforcement of the speed limit. Matt Spejcher, 603 N. Pine Street, made a point that southbound motorists on Pine Street do not stop at the Stop sign at Highland Street. He did mention that Police enforcement in the past has been effective. Marilyn Clark, 706 N. Pine Street, daily witnesses cut through traffic on Pine Street and is also concerned about the speeding. Marty Thomas, 718 N. Pine Street, shared that many of the drivers cutting through the neighborhood speed. Dan Vierneisel, 620 N. Pine Street, suggested turn restrictions for certain times of the day for the first three or four street west of Elmhurst Road. Mr. Bowman suggested constructing a right turn lane on Kensington Road at Elmhurst Road to invite drivers to stay on Kensington Road. He realizes the road is under the jurisdiction of IDOT and would like the Village to pursue this option. Kevin Howe, 623 N. Pine Street, sees the long-term solution as road improvements to Kensington Road but would like to a short-term solution of turn restrictions. Pat Rehusch, 621 N. Pine Street, has been a long time resident and believes the turn restrictions on Wille Street were installed because a previous mayor lived on the street many years ago. She, too, believes cars are speeding on the street and is in favor of time specific turn restrictions. Mirean Blye, 615 N. Pine Street, shared her concern with the volume on the street and the speed of the vehicles. Michael Palomo, 607 N. Pine Street, has contacted the Police Department about speeding on the street in the past and they have responded. However, he believes speeding is still an issue on the street. Ernie Johnson, 717 N. Pine Street, believes there is a speeding issue along the street. Karen Bowman, 613 N. Pine Street, is concerned for people’s safety in the front yard with the speeding along the street. Chairman Bencic brought the issue back to the Commission. He asked Traffic Engineer Lawrie to present the report to the Safety Commission. Traffic Engineer Lawrie provided an overview of Staff’s study of the issue and the recommendations to the Safety Commission. Chairman Bencic asked if there were any questions from the Commission. Commissioner Arndt asked if turn restriction signs could be installed and then removed in the future if IDOT were to make changes to Kensington Road. Traffic Engineer Lawrie said that installation of turn restriction signs require Village Board approval and removal of the signs would also require their approval. Commissioner Miller asked if speed humps were an option to control vehicle speeds along the street. Traffic Engineer Lawrie explained that a traffic calming program which includes speed humps has not yet been developed by Staff. At this point, Staff has not endorsed speed humps. Resident response to speed humps is often mixed and other communities have actually begun to remove speed humps. Village Engineer Wulbecker pointed out that speed enforcement is a reasonable reaction to address a speeding issue. Also, installing turn restrictions doesn’t get at the root of the problem which is the long delay along Kensington Road. That is why Staff has recommended to work with IDOT in addressing the delay problem and if that doesn’t work to look at other options such as turn restrictions. However, any turn restrictions is going to affect the entire neighborhood including making it difficult for residents of Pine Street to access their homes. Commissioner Grouwinkel mentioned he used to live on the 200 block of N. Louis Street and at one time experienced a lot of cut through traffic. The Village, after a detailed study, installed turn restriction signs off of Rand Road. If IDOT does not agree to any changes on Kensington Road, he would be in favor of turn restrictions at Pine Street. There was some additional discussion about the scope of the improvements along Kensington Road to address the cut through concern. Staff was going to meet with IDOT and try to convince them to commit to this work. Chairman Bencic requested the Police Department do additional speed enforcement to address the speeding concern. To address the cut through issue, he hopes IDOT will make improvements to Kensington Road. Otherwise, he is concerned that not just Pine Street but many streets further west will all have to have turn restrictions and this will limit access for the residents. Commissioner Keane would like to bring the issue back for more discussion in October once Staff has had a chance to meet with IDOT and also collect additional traffic data once school resumes in the fall. A resident asked if a No Thru Traffic sign could be installed to deter cut through traffic. Traffic Engineer Lawrie said that such a sign does have some affect even though it is not an enforceable sign since Pine Street is a public street. It will be considered by Staff. Village Engineer Wulbecker, seconded by Commissioner Keane, move to approve the recommendations of the Village Traffic Engineer which included: ?? contacting IDOT and requesting they modify the traffic signal timing to reduce the delay along eastbound Kensington Road at Elmhurst Road ?? contacting IDOT and requesting they make road improvements to Kensington Road to reduce the delay ?? obtain traffic volume and speed data on Pine Street once school resumes in the fall ?? periodic speed enforcement by the Police Department during peak travel times ?? bring the issue back to the Safety Commission for further discussion once IDOT has reviewed the issue The motion also included having Staff contact the bus companies and asking them to utilize the arterial routes as much as possible and having the issue brought back to the Safety Commission in October. The motion was approved by a vote of 9-0. B) EVERGREEN AVENUE & MAIN STREET TURN RESTRICTION 1) Background Information For safety purposes, the Police Department requested that the No Left Turn sign be replaced with a Right Turn Only sign at the intersection of Evergreen Avenue and Main Street. 2) Staff Study South of the Union Pacific railroad tracks, Evergreen Avenue terminates immediately south of the intersection of Main Street and Prospect Avenue. Given the configuration of the intersection, it is not safe for a vehicle to turn left onto Main Street from eastbound Evergreen Avenue. As such, the curb has been designed to channel eastbound motorists to turn right onto southbound Main Street. Also, a No Left Turn sign is installed. The Police Department recently brought to the Engineering Staff’s attention that some eastbound motorists are actually continuing through the intersection to eastbound Prospect Avenue. This is not only a hazardous maneuver but according to the Police Department difficult to enforce since it is not a complete left turn. The Police Department, with the support of the Engineering Staff, believes a Right Turn Only sign is the more appropriate sign for the intersection. The Village Code does not currently include the left turn restriction. Therefore, a repeal of an existing rdinance is not necessary. Only the addition of a right turn only movement is required. 3) Recommendation Based on Engineering Staff’s analysis of the issue, the Village Traffic Engineer recommends: approval to require right turns only for eastbound Evergreen Avenue traffic at Main ?? Street. 4) Discussion There was no one in the audience to speak on this issue. Chairman Bencic asked that Traffic Engineer Lawrie provide a brief overview of Staff’s report to the Commission. Traffic Engineer Lawrie did so and provided Staff’s recommendation to install a Right Turn Only sign at the intersection. Commissioner Keane thought it would be a good idea to add the phrase “onto Main Street” below the Right Turn Only sign to provide further clarification for motorists. Chairman Bencic wondered if it would be possible to narrow Evergreen Avenue at its intersection with Main Street and further emphasize that only a right turn only is allowed. He thought this could be done either with modifying the curb or striping the area. Village Engineer Wulbecker suggested installing a right turn arrow on the pavement to emphasize the right turn only designation. Commissioner Keane, seconded by Commissioner Grouwinkel, moved to approve the recommendation of the Village Traffic Engineer to require right turns only for eastbound Evergreen Avenue traffic at Main Street. The motion also included adding the phrase “onto Main Street” below the Right Turn Only sign and installing the appropriate pavement markings. The motion was approved by a vote of 9-0. COMMISSION ISSUES Chairman Bencic welcomed Mark Miller as a new member to the Safety Commission. No other Safety Commission items were brought forth at this time. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the Safety Commission voted 9-0 to adjourn at 8:20 p.m. upon the motion of Commissioner Tortorello. Commission Keane seconded the motion. Respectfully submitted, Matthew P. Lawrie, P.E. Traffic Engineer x:\engineering\traffic\safecomm\recs&min\june04min.doc